Well I enjoyed the whole thing. I would have rather had a different winner but all in all a good, no great TdF.

I loved the sprints the best......wow what speed these guys have and one in particular, just amazing. I watch the climbers and think how much suffering they must go through. Great stuff.
That is all, carry on.

It's funny, you go to the Young Turks Threads (no, that is not an ethnic reference, it is an historical reference, so relax and don't go all self-righteous on us) and you get the impression that unless the cyclists are literally throwing poo-poo at each other it's a boring race.

I thought it was entertaining.

I thought the winner was much the best and will relegate his challenger to Poulidor status for years to come.

My view on the waiting thing is nobody said to wait when Andy wrecked in the first week. It happened near the end and was very apparent what it meant but things happen all the time and remember it is a race, who ever gets there first wins. I sure did want Andy to win but he didn't . The whole race was exciting for me. I sure would like to see some of the climbs in person.

I was on vacation this past week and really enoyed watching the TdF live versus the replay versions. I just cannot imagine the fellas having the stamina to do the strenuous racing they do after all those miles and hills. What a tough route this past year. I was pulling for another rider, but Contador was probably the strongest overall. I have not looked back to see how much time Contador lost on his mechanical (broken spoke) in one of the early stages. I'm still trying to figure out how Schleck dropped a chain. I would have thought he would have already have been in the small chain ring but maybe not....

My daily rides will be moved to the original time slot of 8 - 11 am. My wife will be happy. She hates the 3 weeks a year that cycling consumes every minute of.

Don't worry- Tour of Poland starts monday and the Vuelta starts shortly. So you can really upset the wife.

And if you moan about the commentators- We have one over excitable one that keeps you on the edge of your seat for nothing and Sean Kelly who has about the most boring tone to his voice and is very quiet--But you want facts and reasons why certain events are occuring in the race then Sean is your man.

And it is not Patriotism- The speed that Cavendish has finished the sprints at is phenominal- If only he could get stamina for the hills we might have a decent rider in the big tours.

Regarding The Chain Suck incident, a SRAM rep interviewed theorized Andy was in his 38 ring and, to put the hammer down as he attacked while avoiding the slower shift up front, he dropped it into his smallest cog....the extreme angle, perhaps a bit of chain rub, simultaneously hitting a bump, and all that released torque caused the chain to miss. Anyway, the implication was that SRAM stuff doesn't fail-- must have been Andy's extreme shift and other variables.

Been following the TdeF since the late 1930s (yes, am THAT old).
Remember when broters Romain and Sylvere Maas each won. Great riders like Coppi, Poulidor, Gaul, Bartali, Merckx, Hinault, LeMond.
Born/raised in Europe, we always got the news of the tour the next day in our newspaper and eventually on the radio.
Finally in the US it started to be covered on TV.
Ligget/Sherwin/Roll are great commentators. When you get more minutes of the same inane commercials than actual coverage, it does becomes very annoying.
Ever since teams are now commercially sponsored rather being regional/national teams it's become very $$$-driven.
Doping is now prevalent; used to see Belgian riders put beer and 2 raw eggs in their bidon (alu water bottles), put a raw steak in their shorts when they had saddle issues; no such thing as team cars and directeurs and soigneurs but riders did carry 2 spare sew-up tires criss-crossed over their shoulders and a real pump!
In the old days when a TdeF winner won, he was lucky to have enough money to open up a local bar; now they become rich/famous/millionaires.
Vive le Tour!
Pedal on!
Rudy/zonatandem

You folks across the pond have better cycling coverage than Americans. Around here football (whatever that is) is king, along with Nascar, golf, and several other "sports". So Versus will be useless until next July.

We may see the reruns of the Vuelta on Universal Sports sometime in September.

__________________

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. - Psalm 103:8

You folks across the pond have better cycling coverage than Americans. Around here football (whatever that is) is king, along with Nascar, golf, and several other "sports". So Versus will be useless until next July.(

Been following the TdeF since the late 1930s (yes, am THAT old).
Remember when broters Romain and Sylvere Maas each won. Great riders like Coppi, Poulidor, Gaul, Bartali, Merckx, Hinault, LeMond.
Born/raised in Europe, we always got the news of the tour the next day in our newspaper and eventually on the radio.
Finally in the US it started to be covered on TV.
Ligget/Sherwin/Roll are great commentators. When you get more minutes of the same inane commercials than actual coverage, it does becomes very annoying.
Ever since teams are now commercially sponsored rather being regional/national teams it's become very $$$-driven.
Doping is now prevalent; used to see Belgian riders put beer and 2 raw eggs in their bidon (alu water bottles), put a raw steak in their shorts when they had saddle issues; no such thing as team cars and directeurs and soigneurs but riders did carry 2 spare sew-up tires criss-crossed over their shoulders and a real pump!
In the old days when a TdeF winner won, he was lucky to have enough money to open up a local bar; now they become rich/famous/millionaires.
Vive le Tour!
Pedal on!
Rudy/zonatandem

What year was most memorable for you?

Of all the riders you've seen in the tour, who do you think was the best rider?

I enjoyed the TdF this year and watched all the stages. It was unfortunate that Frank Schlek crashed out of the race and Lance lost a lot of time due to crashes and flats but that is racing. Also, Tylar Farrar crashing and injuring his arm hurt the sprint competition. The queen stage was the best, IMO, and climbing the Col de Tourmalet was epic. I would like to do that some time. The HD pictures from Versus were fabulous and I think Phil and Paul do a great job. I met them during the Tour of California at a private party. They are delightful guys who take this sport and their job very seriously.

I have to confess that for me the hgh point was the Tour de France yellow T-shirt my wife brought back from Paris. After a bit of watching to see what I could learn it was like watching corn grow. And, once Lance was out the guy at the Starbucks said it best: "We didn't care before Lance and now we don't care again"

Being one who doesn't particularly care for Contador , I pretty much lost interest after Schleck's attack at the Col du Tourmalet .What an attack that was.. Contador looked like he had met his match.... After that it was just headline news for me. But, that attack was a nail bitter. The end of the TDF is a disappointing event. It's the end of the biggest cycling event of the year. Sort of like the end of the World Series for baseball fans. After the season is over, what else do we use to occupy our time.?

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Originally Posted by cyclezealot

Being one who doesn't particularly care for Contador , I pretty much lost interest after Schleck's attack at the Col du Tourmalet .What an attack that was.. Contador looked like he had met his match.... After that it was just headline news for me. But, that attack was a nail bitter. The end of the TDF is a disappointing event. It's the end of the biggest cycling event of the year. Sort of like the end of the World Series for baseball fans. After the season is over, what else do we use to occupy our time.?